Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
£20k worth, but still a show that he believes in where it's going (and wants to get in before the special dividend)
There's nothing contrarian in showing you don't understand basic accounting.
Then trying to pretend that others pointing out your stupidity is attacking your 'contrarian view' really just proves the point (or immense insecurity on your part)
Of course he can't. It's an idiotic comment on every level. The only mugs are the ones who'd try and read some sanity into it.
Surprisingly good, bloody good to see.
I try to be balanced and really want to find something to be excited about with THG at the moment.
The way forward is obvious but it feels to me as though we've been invited to the spoilt kids birthday party and he doesn't want to share with you.
There's some marginally good and some marginally bad, it just is...
Just as an after comment, and I know I'm stating the obvious to many of you, but for the benefit of anyone newish to this 'game', you should be aware that the second part of the shorting process can still be made to work for you - particularly where BOOM finds itself now, which is a long long way from where we were.
Shorters borrowing stock, selling it, driving the price down and then buying it back for far less than they sold it for is only the first half of the play, and it's the part that everyone focuses on. The second part, is to buy back significant more stock than they sold (maybe reinvesting their entire original sell income), drive the share price back up, and then retain or sell the stock beyond that of the quantity they originally borrowed and returned. They don't just make money on the way down, they make on the way up as well, and on this second part you can too.
Hopefully we're all about to see the benefit of Part 2. BOOM's incredible fall out of the £20s into the £1s obviously wasn't only the work of dastardly shorters, is was the work of other dodgy chancers too (as BBB so eloquently pointed out), but that doesn't mean that a very decent percentage of that fall can't be regained... and if those takeover rumours start again, well...
To be fair Boombangabang, the UK main market isn't much better. Once the professional traders and shorters get their teeth into a stock, you can't do much other than wait for them to hit their low target and then turn long. Then try to ride it back up, a bit like the last few months. Today's drop is just the sell on RNS blip, recent service will resume very soon.
But in my view one of two events will happen in the short to medium term, and either will push the SP back where it fairly should be.
The first is obviously a takeover and with so much PE money ready for action at the moment I have no doubt calculating eyes are being cast over us. Buy it, build it up for 5 years, then relist it on the other side of the pond and count the dollars. After all, that's where most of our Clients are anyway. It is possible that one of the larger US Podcasters could come in for us but they'd get more resistance from our Management. PE is more likely to be accepted as they're more likely to let the current team carry on doing their own thing, their own way.
The second option is as above but miss out the middle man. Ditch the UK market (which it thoroughly deserves) and move it over to NASDAQ ourselves - sooner rather than later.
I'm sure considerable thought is being given to both options by MT and the BoD. Either way the future is very very bright for BOOM and it's shareholders.
Barnetpeter always posts a goodbye message saying how well he's done and how he thinks the sp will drop significantly thereafter.
It's practically cut and paste for him
The quicker it goes up, the more likely to come down.
A steady slow rise back through the 3s, then 4s and 5s will be just fine.
It's good to see a return to growth across all metrics, let's hope that also applies to the share price going forward.
The fact that PE hasn't already taken EMAN out gives me confidence that the BoD is holding out for fair value here. It's a sitting duck at this level if they aren't. They're likely batting away advances regularly at the moment
It could also be that Blue Coast are increasing their holding more as protection against (other) PE than with an immediate interest in taking it private themselves.
Or maybe a windfall tax on Conservative Peers who benefitted personally through the placement of Covid related Government purchases. 90% seems fair, plus maybe an extra 10% if they publicly state 'I don't see what we've done wrong'. LOL
@SmartInvestor
I usually find that when I sell shares in companies that I have long suffered the underperformance of, that sale then proves to be the catalyst for a very significant improvement in the Share Price that I then miss out on..... in this instance I'm happy for you to go first!
Let's hope for a good year for ITX, and an even better one for its share price and it's loyal Share Holders.
Last comment on the subject of taking the Company private (I don't want to monopolise what is one of the better boards on LSE).
If MM wants to take THG private then the time is now, everything is in his favour (or as much as it can be when he's overseen a company with the performance of THG's one the past couple of years).
PE is awash with funds that it's just desperate to spend, the share price is on it's knees, he still it seems has the support of key Share Holders who undoubtedly would like to stay involved and let him keep his toy, and finally (and most importantly) I believe macro conditions are about to change.
If he leaves it any longer the price is only going up. More suiters will come out of the woodwork and even with a BoD full of yes-men they can't recommend an offer to take THG private based on numbers lower than external unsolicited bids. If they did I can promise you that as much as the BoD might try to hush them up, those offers will be leaked to the press by the parties not given fair consideration.
Watch this space.
Have a great day all.
@Pmh198
I agree with your thoughts re taking THG private. That would be a good outcome for everyone including MM... if it was done at a fair price.
But, do you think it's likely he's going to act in the interests of all (including smaller) Share Holders when it comes to agreeing that 'fair price'? History doesn't fill me with confidence.
The best outcome is a hostile approach timed with some major Share Holders losing patience with his antics. I don't believe that can be too far away and MM's best defence against that is to get it private first.
The Golden Share / Premium Listing issue is yet another example of a lack of commitment to Share Holders interests both large and small.
Yes, removal of the golden 'veto' at least opens channels for the company to move forward in ownership terms, but more importantly it should have opened the door to a Premium Listing. With that listing comes indexation, and with that the necessity of numerous funds to retain shares in the Company. That would obviously have a beneficial effect on the SP that even MM wouldn't sniff at.
Unfortunately the Premium Listing also comes with an increase in compliance for both Governance and Disclosure... both dirty words at THG.
Major share holders should be seething and it doesn't make sense that they aren't... unless of course they're aware of moves towards a major corporate event which is going to give them a return on (or at least a little confidence in) their investment. Something needs to happen in Q1 or at the latest Q2 this year.
To me, simple things like not scheduling dates for trading updates gives away both the poor working efficiencies of the company and the underlying attitude towards their listing obligations and shareholders generally.
A company either accepts that if they want to be publicly listed then there are responsibilities and obligations that come with the deal, and they discharge them openly and willingly, OR the company do the bare minimum to comply and tick the box.
THG and MM now believe their own rhetoric that the UK market has caused all their problems and they're treating the listing rules and all but their most friendly shareholders with contempt (but thanks for the all the money at IPO folks).
As for IR being unresponsive/crap/incapable* (delete as appropriate), I'm actually going to be contrarian here. They're not telling you the date because they don't know it, because the business doesn't know it, because the control-freak that MM is won't tell them until he feels like it. It's an outrageous infringement on his liberties that he has to give you any information at all in his view. It'll be kept to the absolute minimum and you can be grateful for what you get, when you get it. Can you imagine working for MM in IR? In a roll he doesn't value or want? It's thankless. The brief will be I'll talk to the key shareholders myself , you keep the 'other' shareholders at bay, but as you can't have any information you'll have to do it by not answering the phone or email.
Management and cultural change is required at THG, whether it be brought about by changing key personnel, a business break-up or an outright sale. The course we're on is the only one that will lead to certain failure.
...and one last thing. Buying shares in Kelso in response to their activism. The childish and petulant act of a bully. Time to take a step back and take an honest look at yourself Matt. There's a name for people who think they're always right and the rest of the world is wrong.
@Hardwell
The lack of LinkedIn posts from him personally could mean what you hope, you never know. I really hope you're right.
But at the very least it suggests (maybe) that he's learnt that publicly spouting off on social platforms won't win you friends, particularly within the media (regardless of whether you're patting yourself on the back for your successes, or passing the blame for your failures). You're just giving people ammunition to ridicule you with later, and often those people have better circulations than he does. He won't win that fight.
I hope some of that old MM magic (from long long ago) shows itself again soon, because he's standing outside the last chance saloon looking thirsty.
There's a really simple answer to all of these issues, just in case you're reading this board Matt.
You can get rid of questions over your ability to run a listed Company, you can reduce the shorts, you satisfy your shareholders (even those of us who are apparently only here for a quick buck, although we're still here... go figure), you can even win over those pesky Journos.
All you've got to do is post a couple of decent trading updates backed up by a hint of forward strategy, and maybe show something other than distain for your share holders who have had a pretty raw deal to date. It's not much really...
I've no doubt £1 (and £1.20 and £1.50) will be hit, but I couldn't tell you if it'll be in 6 days, 6 months or next year. I also couldn't say for a fact if we'll see 80p or not on the way to it, although I'd be surprised if we did.